Thursday, January 04, 2007

The ID odyssey: Don't let this happen to you

When my wife went to renew her Illinois driver's
license recently, the clerks and supervisors at the secretary of
state's office were not satisfied that she was who she claimed to be.

The main piece of ID she had was the license they themselves had
renewed at that same counter four years earlier; the license she'd held
for the last 21 years. But that wasn't good enough.

The rules
had changed since last time.

Now, as part of the effort to control identity theft by illegal immigrants, Social Security numbers have to be cross-checked with names. And hers didn't match. The explanation was simple: She changed her last name when we married in 1985, and though she updated most of her records at the time, she had neglected to alert the Social Security Administration.

The government had never seemed to mind. It took her tax payments every year under her married name and issued refunds when appropriate, renewed her driver's license five times, issued a U.S. passport, let her go back and forth through customs and so on.

Then came the outcry about the growing problem of undocumented workers using phony Social Security numbers to help them masquerade as legal residents of the U.S. The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, will require that states be far stricter about issuing driver's licenses by May 2008.

In theory, it's not a bad idea. Driver's licenses have long been the gold standard of personal identification, and nothing good comes when impostors get them. When the state says you are Bill Smith, by God, you oughta be Bill Smith.

In practice, though ...

Johanna is a born U.S. citizen with a paper trail from here to Pittsburgh. But all that the computer database knew was that the name and number didn't jibe.

A red flag, sure. But an opaque one. The Social Security database did not tell the clerk that the number belongs to a woman named Johanna born on the same day as Johanna Zorn. And the clerk was unwilling or unable to run checks using Johanna's maiden name to show that a woman by that name officially changed her name to Johanna Zorn with the Illinois secretary of state shortly after she was married in 1985.

What we had was a failure to communicate along with a failure of common sense and, then, a failure of the secretary of state's employees to be helpful.

Neglectful married women have been encountering this problem since Illinois got out in front of the REAL ID act and began cross-checking Social Security numbers several years ago, said secretary of state spokesman Dave Druker.

But the clerks at the Northwest Side office gave us vague, impatient and ultimately inaccurate instructions to drive to the nearest Social Security office where, they promised, she could straighten things out quickly.

Not a chance. We drove home, dug out her passport and headed back to the driver's license facility. Sorry, they said. That may be good enough for the Department of Homeland Security, but it's not good enough for Jesse White.

This column is not intended to be an expose. Druker couldn't have been nicer in explaining, apologizing and agreeing that instructions to citizens should be clearer and that the security net needs adjustments.

This is a cautionary tale. Get your papers in order in 2007, folks, and have them handy from here on in.

The feds have yet to firm up the list of original, official documents they will require of drivers when REAL ID kicks in next year, Druker said. But it's likely to be longer than it is now.

A photocopy of a wedding certificate signed by a clergyman and a passport aren't likely to do the trick as they ultimately did for Johanna.

She solved her whole problem--and forestalled problems she would have faced down the line trying to collect Social Security--by going back to the Social Security office a week later and getting her old number assigned to her married name.

Actually, there was one other thing she used to prove herself to Social Security.

Comments

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It seems to me that you are trying to blame everyone else for your wife's failure to change her name with Social Security when she married. If she remembered to change everything else, how could she forget to change one of the most important?
I work in a financial aid office and we often have to send married women students to the Social Security Office because they never changed their name with them. Their Financial Aid application with the Federal government comes back with the comment that the name and social security number don't match. We must have this resolved before we can disburse any aid to the student.
I'm also surprised that when instructed to go to the Social Security office, your wife went home to get her passport! If that's what the Secretary of State needed, they would have asked for that. If this had been allowed to slip by, then it would have been a problem next time and the cry would have been, "But it was OK last time!"
But thanks for alerting others to make sure the name on the social security card is the right one.

ZORN REPLY -- I don't make any secret of the fact that Johanna neglected to present all the paperwork to SSA 21 years ago. Sure she should have thought to do so, but, near as we can remember now, it simply didn't occur to her. The average person in his or her mid 20s has no obvious interaction with Social Security other than the FICA tax line on the paycheck...a line that kept appearing. IF the thought ever crossed either of our minds, which I'm not sure it did, we probably assumed that, since the IRS and FICA and so on adjusted smoothly to taxes and bank records bearing her new name and same old SSN, all was in order.
I don't dispute that this was a mistake. My criticism of the Secretary of State's office is that it did not communicate clearly with her when this problem arose.
First, the letter alerting her to the renewal didn't mention that this new cross-check has been a problem for some married women, so be sure that your SSA records are up to date.
Second, the clerical and supervisory staff was about as rude and clueless as they could have possibly been when the problem came to light. I only have 700 words in the paper to tell any story, but if I'd had 1,200 I would have told of the confused huddle, the confusion and misinformation. They ultimately told us we should go straight to the SSA office and they'd straighten it out for us quickly, which of course was totally wrong and obviously so. The SSA needs extra documentary evidence, too. Not to mention the long lines there.
We fetched the passport only after returning home and reasoning that it might work to satisfy Jesse White, since it satisfied the U.S. government, and that the next huddle of clerks and supervisors might realize that.
Indeed, I still don't understand why a valid U.S. passport doesn't trump a mismatched SSN, given that passports are intended as identification documents and SSNs were supposed to be just tax numbers. But oh well.
Finally, your last line does touch on the reason I wrote up this experience -- to warn others to get their documents in order for the coming identity mania.

If the intent is to catch illegal immigrants, then why not go after them at the places they work? Once employers start getting hit with big fines for hiring illegals, then they'll quit doing it. Without the jobs, the illegals will leave.

I'd rather have my teeth drilled into with no anesthetic than go to the DMV, especially the one closest to my house. I've had so many issues with that office, and how everyone is so incredibly rude. My mother experienced it several times as well, and the snippy remarks and comments because she didn't have the right information with her that she wrote to Jesse White's office. You would think that with multiple forms of picture identification that people could put 2 and 2 together and get 4.

My wife encountered a similar difficulty back in 2002(!) when she discovered while trying to get her first state ID from Illinois that her name had been misspelled on her Social Security Card. We went to the downtown social security office that day (we had tried to get her DL at the State of Illinois Center downtown).

A couple years later after we were married and living in CA, we discovered that that state had a new policy requiring proof of citizenship or legal residency to get a license. Another nuisance. Alas, we had tried to do this at the beginning of our honeymoon, and were 100 miles from home. Fortunately, previous license holders were exempt and courtesy of my having been a magazine publisher in a previous life (and thus wrote a check to the post office clerks at least 2-3 times a week), I had my old CA DL license number memorized and that was sufficient to get a replacement CA DL license.

Funny I was just thinking this morning I need to renew by Sept this year. 5 years ago my wife and I discovered that Jesse White's office operates a DL facility on the grounds of the IL State Fair in Spfld for the entire 10 day run of the fair. My wife and I strolled into the SOS tent, were the only ones there, were in and out (with new DLs) in ten minutes and the kicker is, it was 7:00 at night. Just a heads up for all you Chicago folks....if the DMV up there is really that much of a hassle, it might be worth the 3 hr drive to Spfld for a visit to the state fair to grab a corn dog, a lemonade shake-up, a new driver's license and a puke-inducing ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl. We used to live in the NW burbs (Arl Hghts, D'Splaines and Mt Prospect) and thank God every day that we no longer need to endure that particular hell.

My aunt had a similar experience and ultimately called on an attorney friend to straighten it out. It involved getting a copy of her marriage certificate from the county clerk halfway across Illinois. She is in her eighties and was married in her twenties. She also had the same problem with clueless clerks at the SOS office.
Years ago, I bought a car in Indiana. I went to four different SOS offices. The first three told me I could not obtain an automobile title in Illinois without further paperwork that would have been impossible to get. Finally, I drove to an office adjacent to the Indiana line. They're used to Illinoisans buying cars in Indiana. My papers were in order and I got my car title. The lesson, however, was that three out of four SOS clerks dealt with me based on legends they learned at coffee breaks rather than the law and applicable regulations. This is a problem that has lasted through Republican and Democratic administrations alike; most of the people who work there don't have a clue.

Eric, I learned when I moved here in 1998 that the office on Elston is absolutely awful. When I tried to register my car there, the clerk seemed to take pleasure in railroading me. Next time, go downtown. I had no problems there. When I went downtown and was treated nicely and had fast service, I actually thought, "wow, this city does work."

My employer required both an updated social security card AND an updated driver's license before they would officially change my name when I got married. It seems pretty standard to me. And it seems pretty obvious - has your wife not changed jobs in 21 years? Hasn't she had to use her social security card for something? She's lucky (or unlucky) that no one has pointed out the discrepancy before.

But as a reminder to do the paperwork that we put off, it's a good example.

It is interesting that your first joint tax return did not force the SSN-name mismatch issue. Our first joint tax return got kicked back because my wife's new name did not match her SSN. Maybe that is because we filed electronically so it is easier to check that sort of thing. Still, you seem like the sort of person who would be filing electronically by now so I wonder if having filed at least one paper return under the new name somehow blesses it with the IRS or something like that. Or maybe the circumstances were different in some other subtle way that makes a difference to the IRS.

Fortunately, the IRS is smart enough or kind enough not to consider the return late if you file at the deadline and get it kicked back for this reason.

Ten years ago my husband and I applied for our passports (4 months ahead of departure date for our European trip.) As that date got closer and closer, we still had no word from them.

So the week before we were to leave, I called that office (enduring about 15 minutes of runaround) to see if our passports were in the mail. The officious woman there would only tell me that mine was in the mail. She claimed that she could only release information about my husband's passport to him personally.

Pleading, appealing to common sense (same last name, same address, same departure date), pointing out that I was ON THE PHONE AND COULD BE ANYONE did no good!! Rules were rules. Finally , bowing to the inevitable, I hung up, called again, went through another 15 minutes of bureaucratic runaround, lowered my voice about an octave said "This is Fred ______", and was told my passport was also on the way.

I am American Indian so my maiden name is 2 separate words. When I got married 24 years ago, I went to SS and got my name changed to my married name hyphenated after my 2 word maiden name. I went to DMV shortly after and they told me my name was too long so they shortened it on my license! When 9/11 happened, I encountered problems every time I flew since my credit cards & license didn't match. I went to DMV with my SS card & they finally changed it this past year.
Also I had a friend whose daughter recently got her license for the 1st time & she needed a new SS card before they would issue it. They waited a few weeks & when they called to inquire why she hadn't received her SS card, they told them it was because only their last name was on the mailbox. The mailbox had to her her 1st name as well in order to deliver it!

Don't think that the SSA is faultless, either. The SSA has an incorrect birthday for my husband on file, and we've been trying to get it straightened out since we got married in July. His birth town's SSA office won't verify his birth certificate, so the SSA office is dragging their feet in correcting their mistake.
As for the whole SSN thing, Texas requires SSN on all driver's licence applications. I also had to take my social security card when I first applied for my driver's license, too. I'm not happy about it, but it's the law and I'll abide by it. Makes me glad that I still have my IL driver's licence number memorized, in case we move back.

ZORN REPLY -- One of the more ironic requests we received at the Secretary of State's office was for Johanna's social security card. Like ANYONE carries that around.

I had a similar experience while applying for unemployment insurance. I was told that my state issued driver's license was not enough proof of my identity and that they needed to see my social security card (and this is from a state-run office). I had apparently misplaced that and had to go to the Social Security Office where the only proof of identity that was necessary was my state issued driver's license.

I have no problem if they want to make it more difficult for people to get a form of identification, but when the state issues a form of identification the state needs to accept that form of identification.

The Illinois DMV is not a place I like to go. When I renewed my license the last time, I didn't notice it but they messed up and the signature under my picture was not mine, it was most likely the woman who was in front of me who had them keep taking her picture because she wasn't happy with the way she looked. End result, by the time they took care of me, I grabbed my new license and left. No matter how long they keep you there, carefully review your personal information on your license. I didn't (I know my bad). It came to light when I was donating blood and they needed my license for ID. The man taking care of me pointed out that I didn't look like the name signed underneath my picture (a very hispanic name). I looked and was amazed. It wasn't my signature at all.

A return trip to the DMV (it was at least 2 months later; I don't ever pull my license out of my wallet) and I had to pay to have it corrected. After telling them why I was there and paying my money (have to notice it's wrong within 30 days), took another picture, got my new license and guess what....yes, the same WRONG signature was still on it! Explained to them again, and finally after another 30 minutes got it corrected.

I'd be willing to bet a months pay that the renewal letter that your wife got from the SOS said that she needed to bring in her social security card for verification. This verfication which is manadated by the Illinois legislature (Send thanks to your rep for that) cuts down on identity theft and many other problems.
Most people don't bother to read the letter that is sent out even when its in bold print and fail to bring in the requested documents.
Also, its fair to mention that Social Security has two separate databases and the information is not the same in both of them many times.
I think its unfair for you to blame the SOS for enforcing a policy that is mandated by state law. I can only assume using the same logic that you'd blame a cop for pulling you over for drunk driving....
I also like the way that you expect the requirements to be the same for both state and federal. SS has their requirements for getting a duplicate card, but then they also have the extra safeguard that they are mailing the card to you a at the address usually on your W-2, not handing it over to you in their office.
So, I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but a little preparation and bothering to read the renewal letter might have saved everyone a lot of grief....

ZORN REPLY -- The renewal letter includes the social security card in a list of possible forms of ID you might want to bring in. It does not say you must or even should bring that particular form of identification in -- lots of people don't carry them; I'm not even sure I could lay my hands on my card if you gave me a few hours to hunt for it.
So since the letter does not say you NEED to bring in the card, you can send a check for your month's wages to Chicago Tribune Holiday Giving, 435 N. Michigan Ave. 60611.
I'm not exactly sure what's mandated by state law and what's just a policy of the White administration. I don't know how much common-sense leeway any clerk or supervisor has....during and after we got conflicting information about whether the passport should have sufficed.
Finally, though, I agree that a little preparation on our part would have saved us this grief. I wrote the column mostly to alert others to this necessity to help spare them grief.
Always in the service of others.....

I read your article with irony this a.m. 4 weeks ago I applied for a passport (the 1st time in my 50 yrs). Since I hadn't received it yet, I called passport services to see what the holdup was; I was told that my name on my drivers license didn't match my social security - I changed my ss# when I was married 28 years ago; however, I left my name hyphenated on my drivers license. I have NEVER had a problem, travelling out of the country to Mexico, Canada, and various islands.

To rectify this situation, I have to have my drivers license changed - dropping my maiden name - and send the people at passport services a ton of information.

I don't remember why my ss# didn't have my hyphenated name on it, it was so long ago, but this is the 1st time I've ever had a problem!

As a tax preparer who files most returns electronically,I learned long ago to ask a newly married couple if the wife had changed her name on her SS card. If she hadn't, I put her maiden name on the tax return, filed it, and told her to get the name changed at the SS office unless she were continuing to use her maiden name.

One of your replies about people carrying their SS card around, what do us Medicare people do? Our SSN is on the Medicare card, and we don't dare go out without that.

What is being ignored here is that America Citzens should not have to be going through this to begin with. There was a time when Drivers Licenses were a piece of paper with no picture on them. If Washington would deal with these illegals (criminals) instead of harassing Citizens this would not be. Always excuses for not dealing with this criminal invasion!

I had a different reaction when I read your column. I am one of the 1700 retired teachers that had their social security information sent out my mistake so I was glad to hear that there are measures taken so that someone won't take my s.s number and apply for a new identity which usually begins with a drivers license. There is a reason for the added security and I am one of the people that did benefit.

I am aware there are several different social security card forms used over the years. One says, "Do not laminate," but mine issued more years ago than I care to admit states "Not to be used for identification." What happened to that admonition?

The rules must be different now than they were 20 years ago, perhaps due to the hassles your wife and others have faced. I changed my name this summer, and the current name-change procedure requires that you *FIRST* change your name with the SSA (they give you a letter showing your number and new name, saying that your new card has been applied for), *THEN* the SOS can issue an updated license.

It's amazing that customer service staff don't seem to understand what documentation their own offices need to process a name change request. It's as though everyone who does this is the very first person to do so! Standard procedures and clear training would go a long way toward actually providing SERVICE to customers.

Your wife's SS# is on her license? She needs to change that. You can ask them to take it off and they'll comply. That way, even if you lose your wallet, whoever finds it won't have that one vital piece of information. I lost mine several years ago. Someone used my license to set up a phony bank account, but they had to make up a SS#. The fact that it wasn't my number saved me thousands of dollars in overdrafts on the bogus account.

ZORN REPLY-- No. The SS number used to be optional on the drivers license, now it is not included on the license at all.

It's so ridiculous that the standards across different identification systems are inconsistent.

Funny story, though: My grandfather has gone as "John" since he can remember, rather than the Japanese name his mother gave him at birth (it's a long story, but basically, when he writes the Japanese name out in English letters, it looks like "John").

The Social Security Administration (which didn't even exist when he decided to start going by "John," btw) recognizes my grandfather as "John." His Army papers listed him as "John," as did his driver's license. Only about five years ago when he went to apply for a State I.D. (rather than renewing his driver's license) did anyone question the fact that the name he presented did not match that on his birth certificate -- at which point we were lucky enough to have a lawyer in the family who could expedite the official name change process.

Some of the challenges in all this are probably directly related to the License for Bribes affair. Given that people were paying for false-yet-official IL DLs, it's not surprising to me that the SoS no longer accepts only the IL DL as proof of identity. There's also the notion of transference of accountability: if the clerks follow the letter of the procedure, theorically they can't be blamed if something unintended happens. If they make a decision and it turns out to be a bad one, they may left to hang by the state and AFSCME. Granted, that's no excuse to be rude or provide inaccurate information.

So I’ve been driving around Washington with a Utah driver’s license for over six months now, and I think Washington State law requires you to get a new license within 30 days of relocating here. So, fearing a Swift & Company-style immigration raid deporting back to Utah, I went over to the Department of Licensing this morning.

It was easy. It was fast. Everyone was friendly and helpful and knowledgeable (especially when compared to the Department of Licensing customer service phone line, on which I spent hours this morning getting three quite different and contradictory answers to the same question).

I was shocked. DMV and licensing office visits are supposed to be comic shorthand for long lines, cranky tellers, tangled bureaucracy, etc., right? But my last few visits to this type of office have all been quick and pleasant, a model of efficiency.

My theory is that a new array of high-tech services in many states (mail-in driver’s license renewal, on-line tag renewal) are cutting down on actual DMV office traffic. Which is fine by me.

What if this trend continues, and in twenty years “the DMV” actually becomes a comic signifier for something pleasant or pleasurable? “That was more fun than a barrel of DMVs!” “Kids, if you’re good, we’ll stop by the DMV later.” “Better-Than-DMV Chocolate Torte.”

I had the same situation happen to me that happened to Eric's wife. My renewal letter did not state that they needed me to bring in my original SS card. As Eric states, it said I would have to show proof of identity and listed several possible forms of ID, which I brought, and which were rejected. You do owe Eric a month's pay.

Just a comment. I have recently moved and went to update my driver's license. The clerk did not even ask for proof of my new addres. I could have told her 1060 West Addison. I thought that was only possible in the Blues Brothers.

To echo an earlier post, I am surprised you were able to file your taxes with the mismatch in names (tax return vs. SS database). In the past, that would get the refund held until the name was changed with Social Security. FYI - it is not just names - the other Chicago paper did a story about a retired Chicago Fireman who was denied a renewal of his driver's license, as he lied about his age to get the license at 15, but had given Social Security his real age - so he had to straighten that out. REAL ID is only going to make this worse - Sensenbrenner's staff says EXISTING licenses will need to be reverified with birth certificates, etc - EVERY time. Not everyone agrees with that interpetation, but it is going to be worse.

I have been married for more than 20 years and never changed my SS card. I never had a problem filing my taxes or with anything else until I renewed my driver's license last October and was asked for an updated SS card.

Not to dispute whats on the letter, but if the information cannot be matched with SS then the renewal letter is different that the standard renewal letter.

In the upper right hand corner of the letter there is either a V or an NV, which stand for verfied or non-verfied with SS. If it's non-verified, then there is an additional highlighted section in the letter that states that they MUST bring in additional documentation including the original SS card. If letter has the V then it has already been pre-verified with SS and when it goes to verify again when you renew then there shouldn't be any issue. Its very hard without knowing all the circumstances to say one way or the other.

There have been lots of problems with SS birthdates being off, especially with older males who have "adjusted" their age so that they could get into the service, etc. This causes problems when they go to collect their SS or even where they have to give back money because they have collected their benefits before they should have. Straightening that out can be a mess.

For all of you aggravated at the rudeness of the DMV offices in Chicago and the 'burbs, take a short trip out through the cornfields to a rural Illinois office, where the folks are much pleasanter. As a former city and 'burb resident, I know what the experience is like there. It's not the same at all out here in the land of corn and beans.

Your wife had problems at the DMV because she hadnt changed her name on her SS card to her married name. My name WAS changed from my birth name to my married name and that specifically was the reason the DMV nearly wouldnt issue me an Illinois' driver's license. Getting an Illinois driver's license a few months ago was easily the most exhausting and unpleasant ordeal of the year 2006 for me.
I had a driver's license from the state of Colorado. I lost it at the airport (I now use a state ID card on trips; it's just too easy to drop/lose the DL at one of the numerous security checkpoints). I wasnt terribly concerned about it because the Colorado DL was about to expire and I needed to update to an Illinois DL anyway. I inquired beforehand as to what I needed and showed up with everything they asked for--birth certificate, SS card, insurance card, etc, and presented them to the DMV. I'll skip over a lot of details here to get to the nugget of the problem: my name on my SS card-Anna Smith Jones-didnt match my name on my birth certificate-Anna Doe Smith. I pointed out that I had married in 1977 and subsequently divorced 25 years later but kept my married name. I was required to go home and get my divorce papers. Why? I dont know, since I explained that when the judge asked me, did I want to resume my maiden name, I said no, and there was no mention of name changes at all in my divorce papers. I explained that to the supervisor at the DMV but he required me to return home and get the papers anyway, which I did.
My divorce was bitter and ugly and there is a lot of personal detail in those papers. I hated having to stand there while the supervisor and a couple of co workers flipped through the pages in search of a detail that wasnt there at all. There was a lot of lip pursing and head shaking, and the supervisor asked me, more than once and in an almost accusatory manner, why hadnt I resumed my birth name at divorce, as if to do so is standard practice and there was something devious and unsavory about my choice to retain the name I'd had for nearly 30 years. I am ashamed to tell you that at that point, I broke down and cried. Like your wife, I had a wallet that bulged with documentation in my legal name of Anna Smith Jones, but of course none of them was of any use, since my birth certificate was in my maiden name, and all of them, like my SS card, bear my married (legal) name.
The supervisor did finally and reluctantly allow me to get an Illinois DL. What he put me through was humiliating. I nearly wrote you then but figured no one would believe it.

You know, to add insult to injury, doesn't is say on the SS card 'Not for Identification Purposes' ... ?

It seems like the SSN is a defacto National ID number, anyway. In fact, I'm a pilot and all FAA issued licenses use your SSN as your pilot's license number. Bad news for us, good for ID thevies when the FAA announced that they lost some part of their database of licenses pilots last fall (I think it was on a laptop that went missing).

I recently moved back to IL and was pleasantly surprised by the process of getting an IL drivers license. I went to the office in the Thompson center (AFTER checking to make sure I had all of the correct papers) and was in & out in less than an hour, written test included.

This was much, much better than my experience in Charlotte, NC where there are few DMV offices and they are understaffed.

I did get a chuckle that the only credit card accepted by the IL drivers license bureau is the Discover card. Just like a state agency to only accept the most obscure card there is!

Not only must your name match your Social Security record's name, it must match it *exactly*! When I got my first Illinois ID card in 2003 (same as the DL, but I'm nice to everyone on the road and Don't Drive), I had to go to the Social Security office and change my name because my birth certificate had a middle name and my SSA record did not. I did get away with only using the middle initial for SS (I dislike my middle name).

And then, my employer required me to change my name on my paychecks to include the middle initial -- seems they get fined $50 for every employee they report to SSA whose name is different from the SSA records.

the first commenter is absolutely correct--your column is typical citizen griping over government 'red tape' in cases where the citizen is clearly at fault for any delay or inconvenience.
don't blame the government for your obvious oversight. how can the social security administration be expected to chase around your wife's background information without being notified of any change?

Anna wrote: "What he put me through was humiliating. I nearly wrote you then but figured no one would believe it."

Now you know, Anna: anyone who has lived in Illinois can all too easily believe it. Now if you'd written about going to the SOS's office, finding a knowledgeable professional to handle the problem, and breezing through in a pleasant half-hour, that we'd find hard to believe. (Though things have improved to the point that *sometimes* you do get quick, efficient, and courteous service, and "sometimes" is a big, big difference from a few years ago.)

I have to say that this whole REAL ID thing gives me the chills, and the added bureaucratic hassles we'll all be put through is the least of my reasons.

I married in 94, never changed my SS card, filed our married joint return by mail and never had a question asked. Then in 1999 when we filed (by mail again)the Govt, sent our return back and told us that my SS # didn't match the filing name. I still wonder how they don't red flag that kind of thing from the beginning.

As for individual DMV's, Bridgeview you owe some type of comment. I avoid your office like the plague. Thank goodness for the satelite office in Orland Park.

I would like to say something good for one office: The Joliet one that was/is in the old Jefferson Mall. I was in there one time, quick and efficient process and witnessed an elderly customer getting new plates for her car. The manager offered to put the new plates on her car, which she gratiously accepted. That was one of the nicest gestures, I've ever seen a DMV employee ever do. I don't think many go out of their way. But it would be nice to hear about some of the good things that have been witnessed.

Elston Ave, right? If Dante's Inferno were written today, it would have been set there.

Used to live on the NW side and went to Elston for over 20 years to conduct business. You had to plan your entire day to go there. For what it was worth, native-born white people were generally treated well.

I got my new DL last week at one of the Dupage locations. I was out in under 10 minutes and one of the clerks gave my two-year old son a "Jesse White" coloring book. It's easier to travel out west than go to Elston; you'd get home quicker.

By the way, the state ID's now cost $20 instead of $4. What's with that? They cost more than a DL. I have a state ID for Loop/O'Hare security purposes so I don't have to pull out my DL. Did Jesse figure out this was a good way to soak people who wanted two ID's?

ZORN REPLY -- In fairness to the Elston Branch, I accompanied my wife that day for the same reason and breezed through in 10 minutes.

Gosh, David. Did you miss the part about theft of SS numbers and IDs? How does one check for fraudulent IDs when (a) there is no database to go to, and (b) you can be sued for discrimination for doing so?

I work for SSA in Los Angeles. You think Illinois has problems?, you should have been here 1997 when the CA DMV got new software! Even if just 1 letter in the middle name didn't match our records, the DMV sent the person over to our office, stating it was our fault. In reality, it was their new software. We had over 200 people a day in here just to deal with the DMV glitch. They finally got it updated, & it's better, but they still insist our records match theirs, but ours must match the current legal document or Homeland Security docs, which don't always agree with DMV. Another problem here, DMV insists on all your names be on the license. So, if you have 2 middle names, 2 last names & so on...your name is on 2 sometimes 3 lines.
Lesson to learn, you get married, become a citizen, change in alien status, or change your name, go to SSA & change the information on our records! Bring original documents, NO photocopies, birth certificates are only accepted for first time cards & to correct a wrong date of birth. Hope this helps!

Novelist and soccer mom Joshilyn Jackson was in this exact situation this summer and she actually did go down to the SS office and file the proper paperwork and a few weeks later she was pulled over for a traffic stop in her Georgia town, handcuffed, arrested, and taken to jail for driving with a suspended license.

The problem, which Eric points out in the column, is a series of legislative overreactions that prohibit good people--whether they be DMV workers or beat cops--from using common sense. The "married name on your driver's license and maiden name on your SS card" thing has always been an issue but it's only been recently in this country that law-abiding moms have been yanked from their minivans and arrested for not having their papers in order.

I'm surprised, since I've always had good experiences at the DMV on Elston. I passed my licensing exam there (on the first time, naturally) gotten several replacement licenses, and so on.

In fact, it only took me about 20 minutes to renew my license on my birthday in May...... and my picture is the best EVER. Seriously, bouncers at bars have complimented me on it. (The DMV employee who took the picture told me he was a professional photographer. I thought that was hilarious!)

All that aside: it would seem that the only people who have issues with Jesse White's facilities are the ones who don't have their i's dotted and their t's crossed. I'm just sayin'.

I recently went to the SS Office to get a new SS card when I couldn't lay my hands on the old one. As I was filling out the request for a new card, I couldn't remember how my old card had my name--I have a hyphenated last name and use my middle name as my given name.

The upshot--I had faithfully come in to record my marriage, but the clerk not only never sent me the new card, she ignored the hyphenated name and misspelled my middle name. Thirty years later I had a clerk take pity on me and not require me to trot back in with my marriage license. She accepted the my passport and driver's license and carefully typed out my full name for the card i received a week later.

The moral is that even if you do register your marriage, there's no guarantee they'll get it right.

Had a crook used the passport or other material to steal your wife's identity, You would be out of a lot more than inconvenience. The double checking comes from 0the businesses that have not been safeguarding identity.

Your wife had the obligation oof changing her name at SSI. If this was your only inconvenience, you need to be grateful. People whose identities have been stolen through the use of "common sense" and alternate id endure years of trouble, problems with job searches, and thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and lost time at work, as well as the occasional wrongful arrest.

Would you rather spend a bit more time grabbing documents, or would you rather be in jail because someone hijacked your identity?

ZORN REPLY -- I disagree that common sense allows identity theft; ID theft is caused by companies seeking speed and convenience over the application of common sense. The one time my wife's purse was stolen and someone charged a computer purchase at Best Buy on it before she'd even noticed the purse was missing, I asked Best Buy why the $%#$ they hadn't asked for photo ID from the purchaser. They told me some customers consider it rude and inconvenient, and that Visa covers their losses (as they covered our losses) anyway. And Visa can't be bothered.

I appreciate the head's up, Eric, as this is likely to bite my wife in the butt next time her IL DL comes up for renewal. She never changed her SS card to her married name because she was licensed by the state in her profession and it was easier for her to just continue to use her maiden name at her job rather than go through all the rigamarole of convincing the state licensing board that she was now married as well as SSA. She's paid under her maiden name. But at home and on her DL, and on bank accounts etc. she uses FIRST NAME MAIDEN NAME MARRIED NAME. The IRS has never kicked about it. But I'll take the tip to look for the V vs. NV on the letter and my wife will go for DL renewal next time as soon as the letter comes from Jesse White. That way, if there's an issue, there's time to deal with it with SSA without her DL expiring.

Last time I had to renew my drivers ID it took me four separate trips to the DMV to get it all correct, but then it took only 20 minutes from start to finish. Part of the Illinois problem is that there are too few offices for too many people. In Oregon, every town had it's own Department of Motor Vehicles and the people who worked there were your friends and neighbors. They would never be rude and snippy to people they knew. The state of Illinois doesn't charge near enough for the services it provides. Fees are easy income. I still can't believe we only paid $5.00 for the marriage license, when Oregon was charging $50.

As for Johanna, who has been very busy raising children, she gets a letter from Social Security every year detailing her benefits and her work record, and so every year she has had a reminder to get her name corrected. Time for her to stop putting herself on the bottom of the to-do list, as busy mothers are wont to do.

It took me an entire year to change my name everywhere I needed to when I married at 30. If I had known then what I know now, I would seriously, very seriously think about changing my name.

Hi,
Here's a driver's license renewal story to share with your wife....

I had just returned from my own infuriating visit to renew my drivers license when I saw your column today. Before leaving my house I noticed that the renewal letter sent to me by the Office of the Secretary of State said that I would be required to provide further documentation to prove my identity in addition to my drivers license. It said I could find the acceptable forms at their website. So I went on to the website. It was not easy to find the information, but after a search I discovered the page I needed. In the upper right corner of that page it states "An applicant renewing a current illinois driver's license or ID card need only present a current valid driver's license or ID card." Although I supposedly didn't need anything, at the last second I grabbed what I thought was THE most important form of government ID, my passport.
As soon as I reached the counter and said I needed to renew my license the man behind the desk said I needed my social security card. When I said I had my passport he said that was not good enough. (a passport with a photo is not better than a piece of wrinkled faded paper with a number typed on it?) I needed my social security card. He proceeded to point out the section on the renewal letter that said I would need further proof of my identity. I explained to him that I had indeed followed that exact section of their letter and went to their website to find out what I needed. I felt he wanted to put me in my place so he quickly pulled out a printed copy of the web page I had read and pointed vigorously to group B telling me that I needed any of the items listed as acceptable proof of my identity. I, in turn, quickly pointed out the top corner and read outloud to him where it says I didn't need a thing. Defeated, he said he would try to look it up for me, but was thrilled when he was able to throw a printed response from his search that stated my name on my driver's license did not match the social security number name. I did notify social security of my new hyphenated name when I got married almost 20 years ago but, my driver's license only carries the second part of the hyphenated name.
I ended up going home and getting my social security number. I figured they would change my name on my drivers license to my hyphenated name, but they really didn't care what name I wanted on the license. I still have the unhyphenated single last name on my license.
When I finally returned home with my new license in hand I looked once again at the group B of acceptable identification on the sheet the man had given me. One of the forms of ID in column B is a passport!
Had this man simply explained to me that there was a recent change in the system and apologized that the website had not been updated, I would have accepted the circumstances and gone home to get my social security card without my blood pressure rising. However, I felt he was out to make me feel that I had done something wrong. While the law may be changing the Secretary of States' Office is not. The employees are rude and their website is outdated.
The good news....the new picture on my license isn't too bad!
Susan-Naperville

You know what the bottom line is? If you didn't change your name with the US government via the Social Security office, then you didn't *officially* change your name. Whatever reminders you got or didn't get 21 years ago, that fact remains the same.

Excuses, excuses...but all of the government agencies are in the right here.

ZORN REPLY -- Yes, but there's a right way and a wrong way to handle being "in the right." And it starts with good, clear communication and the presentation of accurate information.

I had a similar problem when I moved back from California in 2000. Although I have never changed my name, it never occurred to me that my government pension account had anything to do with my ability to drive, so I didn't bring my social security card to the DMV. For that matter, I had no idea where it was in all the boxes that we had to move.

And, like Johanna, I found that Illinois would not give me a drivers license without proof of my social security number, but the social security office was happy to give it to me using my California drivers license as ID.

In addition, the state of Illinois has a very hard time handling taxes for married couples when women do not change their last names. The forms have one space for "taxpayer" and one for "spouse"; apparently what they really want is "husband" and "wife". I have the financial background and fill out the paperwork, so as far as I'm concerned, I get to be the "taxpayer" and my husband is the lowly "spouse", but this screws up the state's systems. On a few occasions, Illinois has sent us bills for back taxes, because they are apparently unable to match my name and my social security number to the person they consider the rightful male taxpayer.

I swear there was no highlighted section in my letter as Kevin described (below). Even the experienced clerk who told me about the flag in her computer (that required me to produce an original SS card) was not able to find any such requirement in our letter. I'm pretty careful about reading anything from the government. I prepare myself as much as possible and also went to the website to be sure I had what I needed. Also, how on earth would we know to look for the "V" at the top of the letter to see if our SS # is verified unless it is explained to us? Believe me, I wouldn't purposely cause myself more pain by not fully preparing myself for interaction with a government office.

Most of us are decent, hard working, law abiding citizens. We're not trying to burden the government workers, and we certainly don't deserve to be hassled. There are some very nice people at the agencies, but many of them need training on current procedures and how to communicate them to the public. Updating their website would be good too.

__________

In the upper right hand corner of the letter there is either a V or an NV, which stand for verfied or non-verfied with SS. If it's non-verified, then there is an additional highlighted section in the letter that states that they MUST bring in additional documentation including the original SS card. If letter has the V then it has already been pre-verified with SS and when it goes to verify again when you renew then there shouldn't be any issue. Its very hard without knowing all the circumstances to say one way or the other.

And all of the horrible memories of my trip to the DMV last month come flooding back...

When I went to renew my license, I, too, got the name-and/or-birthdate-and/or-number-doesn't-match message. Same experience as described in the column: Though I had several valid forms of ID with me, plus printouts from the Secretary of State's Web site telling me what I needed to renew my license, the DMV wasn't convinced I was me because I didn't have my Soc Sec card with me (I'd lost it years ago--I know, my bad). One trip to my local Soc Sec office and two more trips to the DMV later, I was finally able to renew my license. Note, too, that Soc Sec offices are open only Monday-Friday and that it will take 1-2 weeks to get a new Soc Sec card.

You know what the problem was? The DMV had made a TYPO in my Soc Sec number years ago. A typo. As someone who deals in typos for a living...ooh, was I seething.

Absolutely, if you're up for renewal, even if you think everything's fine, *go early.*

When I got married, I took my wife's last name. I did this to detach myself from my SSN. It seems everywhere you go someone's asking for it. The ironic thing is, your wife could have simply told the Illinois DMV she has a religious objection to the SSN and no longer has one, and all she would have had to do was sign an affidavit and they would have renewed her driver license. I've had a license in Arkansas and Texas since I took my wife's last name, and I will never give another state agency my old SSN, it wouldn't match the new name anyways :)

I hope you all wake up and learn the real reason for the REAL ID has nothing at all to do with illegal immigrants or terrorism.
It's about controlling the populace through a tyrannical government.
Do a Google search for "IDP-APIS-comments.pdf" and read the governments own documents!

I don't understand why the DMV cares what your SS number is in the first place. Why does a state agency, which is tasked with making sure people only drive if they have the needed skills and insurance have anything to do with a federal agency which is supposed to be tracking my employment for my retirement program. One of the basic mechanisms of our free society used to be that agencies are given access to our lives with the understanding they will poke their nose into only the business that concerns them.

I had to post after reading all these varied and great opinions and experiences.

Gov't agencies are DEFINITELY to blame for inconveniences and inconsistencies. If the system is not user-friendly for people who need to use them, of course, it's the agency's fault. They are the ones who chose what systems to use! How is a non-gov't person expected to know the in's and out's of whatever lame-brain system each separate agency is using?

I would not recommend anyone change their name today if they can avoid it. I just remarried in 2005 and wanted to change my name so that I wasn't still using my ex-husband's name. It's taken me more than a year and I still have two more things to change. It's complicated and long and every agency requires different things. And yes, some agencies and companies act like no one has ever changed their name.

A best case scenario for anyone who gets married in Illinois would involve a list of everything that you'd need to change if you decide to change your name.

I have just encountered almost the same exact problem this past Saturday (July 21st 2007). I was told to get my name fixed at the Social Security office otherwise they cannot pass my name check in their "system". Now what worries me is that it takes SS Office two weeks to re-issue a new card for me, and my driver's license expires in one. This means, I will be driving with an expired license for at least a week !!
I am so glad that I found this article, and thanks for sharing the info !!

I had a friend that lost his IL license and when he went to the DMV in Dearfield to get a new one they did not ask for any proof on identafaction they just asked him his name and looked him up in the computer. In fact when he told me this story he siad that he could have told them he was his brother and forged/lied abou the whole thing.

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
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Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.